Friendly Noob's Guide for Answering Your Own Questions

[riles]

Hello everyone. I would like to start out by saying, my account is very NEW to this here website, yet I have been lurking () for quite some time. This guide is for those other newcomers to the site and/or to getting their own private server's up. I apologize for any misjudgment in the title, prefix, or forum ahead of time (and lack of posts), yet I hope you understand the premise of this thread.. Most of it is redundant, but people still don't get the message.

Instructions Don't Lie

New things sometime's take awhile to get a hold of, even if it means riding the bike without training wheels, or starting a private server. If you are spying a RELIABLE repack, or tutorial, make sure you read the instructions before any progress is made with your interest, and then read it again. Get all your tools ready, then continue with the project. Comprende?

Patience IS a virtue

So is common knowledge. If whatever you are using doesn't work perfect the first time, don't panic. Try again, read the error messages, and see if you can fix whatever the dilemma is yourself. In a lot of cases, these little problems can be solved with a couple minutes of plugging away at it. No search required, saving time. Would you rather spend money for a handyman to do a quick fix at you that you could have done yourself for free? No, that is partly why you are playing a private server. The next paragraph may be contradicting (at least I felt it was), but if you know you can't fix it yourself, keep reading.

ALWAYS Search for your question.

I don't know how many times this has been said. Probably too much.. Definitely too much.
Look, you waste your own time in asking questions that have already been answered. Especially if you create an account for the website the tutorial of whatever it is you were learning to do is hosted on. Is it worth it to spend those few minutes to go through the process of getting acclimated to the layout of the site, creating an account, typing out your question, and making yourself look like a noob?

Google is our friend!

For MMOWNED, you have to create an account to search topics, like a lot of websites now. If you are reading this and are about to ask a quick question (but you don't have an account), google works just fine. The thing is, google provides plenty of forums with maybe more information on that specific inquiry. Hell, You most likely will stumble across an mmowned thread through the search engine, in which some kid asked the same thing, if you looked for WoW related questions. So, instead of taking up space on the interwebs, just google stuff.

Eventually, you must ask.

It is a sad, sad reality my friends. But after some hours of trying to find a solution, there is none. Maybe this is due to a bad query, or that you are the first to encounter the obstacle. No worries, people will understand. Even if the question has been answered before, except not as excessively as others.

WuT DEED U s@Y?

Lordy, that makes people mad and sometimes reply negatively. If you do have to ask a question, do NOT do express yourself like that. Of course, this is the internet, and grammar isn't exactly perfect, but c'mon..... The least you could do is make it so your new teachers can understand what you write. Also, instead of just stating that "blah didnt work. Why?", describe the errors to the best of your ability. Screenshots help a ton, and so does quoting the logs telling what went wrong.

Didn't work. Thanks for a sucky repack.
Semi kiss ass about to occur

I haven't really seen that before, but don't be rude to whoever it is that gave you the ability to even try to make a private server. Contribution takes time, effort, and care. Never forget that. I have noticed the higher ranks are better on this site then others, but even if the tutorial given sucks, try to be accepting, and politely ask for a better explanation.

Conclusion

Finally, thank whoever took the time to answer your question. If you already have an account on the forum in which you were browsing, take the time to +Rep or whatever it is you need to do to acknowledge the person helping. Do this even if they are wrong or mean, but especially if they were nice and helpful! Makes people feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
This guide is speaks for all forums, and real life situations, so taking the time to read wasn't all that bad, right?

Special Thanks to:
711s thread for the inspiration! (and his repack. I like it a lot. Have a few questions myself that I haven't been able to answer, but am trying to fix myself)
2dgreengiant for the Guides and Tuts Rules! Great novel, you should read it!

Again, i apologize if this is unrelated to the WoW Private Server Guides and Tuts. As justification, it was inspired by threads in them.

Gah, its 3 A.M. No time for editing.